The Broncos will soon join the parade of NFL teams who have been signing their draft picks.

There really is no mystery with the contracts the seven drafted Broncos will receive. With the NFL salary cap set at the same $120.375 million figure in 2011, the draft salary pool for each team in 2012 is virtually the same as 2011. The difference is a $15,000 increase in the minimum rookie salary from $375,000 to $390,000.

So give or take $15,000, a player can figure out the contract he will receive by looking at the player taken in his draft slot for last year.

For instance, the Broncos’ top three draft picks in 2012:

Defensive tackle Derek Wolfe was taken at No. 36 overall. Last year’s No. 36 pick, San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, received a four-year, $7.641 million contract with a $2.226 million signing bonus and $3.95 million fully guaranteed. Kaepernick had his first three years of salaries guaranteed. Wolfe will get either two or three year salaries guaranteed.

Quarterback Brock Osweiler, selected at No. 57 overall, can expect a four-year contract worth around $3.04 million. Last year’s No. 57, Detroit running back Mikel Leshoure, received a $1.6 million guarantee that included $997,584 in signing bonus. That’s a relatively inexpensive investment in a quarterback for the future.

Running back Ronnie Hillman was drafted in the same No. 67 spot as the Broncos took middle linebacker Nate Irving last year. Irving received a four-year, $2.75 million deal. His signing bonus was $695,000.

I agree I read and hear so much from all of these Draft Experts and Arm Chair Quarterbacks. Can I remind anyone that this team went from Worst to First in the Division last Year… they seem to know how to get the team to produce.

Looking back at all the players drafted by the Broncos and what is being paid. I’d say Denver did well considering they had such a late first round pick. With the money being paid to first round draft choices and quite a few being busts, Denvers picks aren’t costing a whole lot of money towards the salary cap. GO BRONCOS!

I am glad the Broncos were able to get players then need to fill in some of the gaps that they have. I truely hope that Jack Del Rio will be a good pick for Defensive Cordinator. Lets hope we can do better then back our way in to the division like we did last year.

Yes the Broncos did a great job at the draft and with FA’s but there is still work to be done…who’s going to play NT? Ben Garland? Vickerson? A Franklin? DJ has got to halve his suspension and this great offense has to be put together(RB’s pass blocking etc.) plus I want to see R Hillman catching it out of the backfield in pre-season .Go Broncos!!

To paraphrase rocker Meat Loaf, two out of the Broncos’ first three draft picks “ain’t bad”. DT Derek Wolfe fills a really big need in the middle of Denver’s defensive line. I think RB Ronnie Hillman gives the Broncos that running threat up the middle that they’ve lacked for so long. But QB Brock Osweiler, who had only one good season at Arizona State, is going to sit on the bench behind Peyton Manning and Caleb Hanie for a couple of years and then be gone. The pick of Osweiler would make more sense if Peyton were going to retire a couple of years from now. But Peyton signed a five-year deal, so he’s in Denver for the long haul. Why draft a QB who’s going to be buried on your team’s depth chart? It doesn’t make sense.

How many years did Aaron Rogers sit on the bench? Most of the football world would say it worked out pretty well. Drafting is a gamble, so is FA, and if you don’t gamble you never win! No one can say with certainty that Osweiler is a good pick, poor pick, great pick, today that is, but if 4 years from now!? Let’s say Manning has 3 hopefully great more years, I doubt either party expects him to play 5 more years and I would assume the deal was more to spread the contract out and give both sides options. So 4 years from now, Osweiler was to take over for the Bronc’s, after understudying to #18 and at 26 he could keep this Franchise going for the next decade… Of course there are assumptions and risks, but that is part of the game! Go Broncos, Go #18 and Go Osweiler… Thank you John for drafting based on “your team’s” assessments and not the opinions of the media and would-be arm chair GMs!

The deal wasn’t to spread the contract out. You only do that to spread out a signing bonus and there was no signing bonus involved. If I remember right, the first year is the only guarantee and the next two become guaranteed as long as Peyton passes a physical. The last two are club option years I think and also dependent upon a physical. Still having a raw QB learn the game for 2-4 years behind two legends (not sure given Peyton’s history what that will mean in practice snaps, but it will be good in the classroom, etc) can’t hurt. It certainly is a better QB of the future pick right now than Tommy Maddox was at any point.

Aaron Rogers was a projected top 5 pick that fell to 24th to a Green Bay team that was already considered one of the best in the league with no glaring ‘needs’ and with a starting QB that was already hinting at retirement. The Broncos picking Osweiler in the second round is an apple and oranges comparison. He may turn out great, he may not, but for certain this was a wasted pick in today’s NFL. Name one of the elite QBs and then try and name the back-up that the team is grooming to takeover. It doesn’t exist anymore. If Peyton gets hurt then the season is lost and the Broncos are probably going to get a top 5 pick the next year to select the next ‘franchise’ QB hopeful. It has been proven over the last decade that teams with great QBs win championships and teams with good QBs stay just good enough to be mediocre and not be in a position to get a great QB.

Doesn’t matter where Rogers was supposed to be drafted. He fell for a reason. His throwing motion, especially his release was not good. Check the videos of his college days and early days with the Packers vs the great release he has now. Three or four years of working on that certainly helped him become what he is today. BO has the tools physically (outstanding athlete for the size) and it appears mentally. He just needs experience. OTA’s, training camp and preseason should help. Learning to prepare the way Payton does and practicing the way Payton runs practices will help him immensely too.
Nothing is truly apples to apples but this isn’t as far off as you think.

Even IF Manning plays out his entire 5 year contract (extremely unlikely), they will re-sign Osweiler to another deal and he will take over as soon as Manning is done. In all likelyhood, Manning will play for another 3 or 4 years and then retire. At that point, Osweiler will (hopefully) be ready to QB and NFL offense.

Stop trying to think you have thought of a problem or situation that John Elway and John Fox have not. They are infinitely smarter than you.

Brock Osweiler started for one season….ONE. This raises red flags for no one? We’re all cool with drafting a QB who has only started for one college season?

But don’t worry i’m told, he’s going to get better by “watching” Manning. Apparently just basking in Manning’s presence makes you an amazing QB, just ask Painter. No one has told me how just “watching” Manning is going to turn this kid into a super star “You don’t understand, he’ll learn a lot just by watching.” Yea, i’ll keep that in mind.

We drafted a guy that thought the NFL couldn’t survive another season without him. He couldn’t play another season at ASU because he needs to grace the NFL with his amazing presence. That’s all I see when I notice a QB doesn’t seem to think he should play his senior season.

But at least he’s tall or something.

This kid has bust written all over him, a 6′ 7″ bust. Because I can’t read anything about this guy without hearing about how he’s 6′ 7″. Glad to know you must be at least “this” tall to be an NFL QB.

Since you can see into the future and call Brock Osweiler a bust, I think I will do the same. Andrew Luck, RG3, Tanenhill, and Weeden are all going to be busts in the NFL!!! Especially Tanenhill, considering he only has ONE season of starting in college!!! You are acting like Osweiler is the first player to leave college early to play in the NFL. In fact, a NFL record 65 players including Luck and RG3, declared early for the draft this year.

I am really stoked about this team this year. Not just Peyton but the FAs and rookies. Even the UDFAs we got. I can’t stand when you have the bandwagon fans that just want to be negative and stupid in thinking that Peyton is going to get hurt and and we didn’t draft well. People like that are just Faider fans in disguise. Or atleast need to be Faider fans. That’s just my thought.

I am truly amazed at how much press has been given to back up quarterbacks in the last two years. Brock was drafted as an insurance policy, period. No one will ever see how good he is unless Payton gets hurt in his next three years. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. If you want to complain about a backup qb, tell me why on earth did we pick up Caleb Hanie?

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.